My First Language

The first language of most people is mostly the one everyone feels comfortable speaking. Many people in different cultures learn different languages as their "mother tounge." My first language for example was Spanish. My parents came from Mexico as immigrants and only knew how to speak Spanish, therefore they would only be able to teach me Spanish in order to talk, punish, or simply have a conversation with me. Most people feel comfortable with their first language because everyone around them is used to hearing them speak. So it gives them more of a comfort zone and they are more open and express what they truly feel. When they are around people that don't speak their language they feel uncomfortable. Reason is because they don't know if the other people will understand and/or make fun of them. Comfortability is a major thing for people whose first language was not English. I do not think language reveals intelligence, because alot of people who do not speak English in a correct matter get viewed as not knowing much. When in reality it is not true because there are many who even know more about us, the ones that were born in the United States and know English. Never take anyones language intelligence as stupidity.

Reflection & Criticism on Identity

Language is a way to show off ones identity. The culture a person comes from and who you are. The languages I speak are Spanish and English and of course a couple words from other languages... Language reveals my identity in many ways, for example where I'm from or who I hang out with. To people outside of California in the United States I am known to have an accent. They call it a Californian accent. The words we use are very different like hella, awesome, dude, tight, sick, etc.... These among many more words give out our identity. There are also many different ways of speaking the same language which also reflects back on your appearance. I hang-out with people who speak English slang, proper English, and English with high vocab. in their diction. This shows how i might speak as a basis of identity. The same goes for Spanish. There are many ways to speak Spanish. But for many people because their language reveals their identity, they take an offense when there language is threatened and feel as if it was an attack towards them. As for me, I feel every person is entitled to their opinion, therefore can say or feel as they please. I would not take much offense if someone was to say speak this way, or don't speak that language here. I would take into consideration what they say and then if my opinion changed then so be it. People can say what they want, in any way they want (at least in the U.S.) and I will not change their mind just as they won't change mine. Which in other words means that I will keep speaking in my language(s). My identity is who I am and I can but choose not to change that and if someone was to have a problem with that, all they can do is stay away as far as possible from me.